This week the reforms in Local Government were announced and I’m proud to say they weren’t found wanting. These reforms will see us reduce the number of Councillors by 40%, finally correcting the balance of the over-representation of rural areas and the under-representation of Dublin at a local level while, all in all, saving €400m over the course of four years.

It’s incredibly unpopular among some politicians of course, but it’s the right thing to do in many respects. Dublin has been vastly under-represented at a local level for a long time, and this fixes that problem while also saving a great deal of money for the taxpayer.

I predict that this will see a great change in how our local elections work in Dublin, with an enhanced level of competition and, therefore, a higher turnout and interest from the public. You can find the new map attached to this.